The entire point of IE is NOT to battle the hunger signals. Also I'm 300+ and I didn't get here by eating intuitively. I didn't stop when I was satisfied. I just continued to eat and eat and eat. I assumed I HAD to have the largest size of everything. I HAD to have whatever my stomach wanted. LOL. Stopping when you're satisfied sounds easier than it is. Nice ladies on the IE thread have given me a few things that have really helped.
Chew 20-30 times and really enjoy what you're eating rather than just shoveling it in.
Put down you fork/spoon down between bites.
This was from the overfed head. Work on a scale of 1-10 of your hunger. 1 is not hungry at all and 10 is ravenous. Also another scale for 1 is your stomach is empty and 10 is your stuffed. Ask your self on a scale of 1-10 how hungry are you and how full are you. I think I lived this for the first few months.
Like I said before IE isn't for everyone and it really does take a big change in thought to 1) realize nothing is off limits 2) there really aren't rules. YOu decide what your body wants.
Something else that people find unusual. I am not MORE likely to eat food that is better for me. I do eat Indian food and hamburgers and other things, but now I crave fruits adn vegetables and greasy fast food and the like don't hold anywhere near the appeal for me. I'm not perfect. I had to ration out the peanut butter girl scout cookies and I can't keep any ben and jerry's in the house, but no one is perfect and I think I'm a work in progress.
Lastly IE is probably the least structured "plan" you'll ever find and if you're looking for strictness...this ain't it.
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Originally Posted by nelie
I think at one point in our lives, intuitive eating could work for everyone. Unfortunately from what I've read (and accounts of those who have been morbidly obese) is that the morbidly obese "natural weight" as you refer to it is obese. There are those who have lost the weight and struggle against the constant hunger. I'm not sure what happens in those that have gained a lot of weight but it seems as if a switch is turned on that their body wants to be overweight and fights with constant hunger signals.
Now that isn't to say that someone morbidly obese couldn't lose a certain amount of weight by using intuitive eating just that in order to get to their goal, they may have to battle and fight the hunger signals at some point.
Currently, I'm trying to live with hunger signals as I lose weight just because my body seems to want me to eat more than I should. Even with a high fiber, whole foods diet with no added sugar, the hunger signals exist.
You sound perfectly normal in your former eating issues as I think most of us who have been in the 300s and beyond can relate. Once we realize we don't need to eat everything in sight and that we don't really need to stuff ourselves, we can move towards better eating habits. Listening to fullness signals is also an important step. I've gone way beyond fullness many times and my goal is not to be at that point again.